Unleash Chaos as the Ultimate Cat Nuisance in Heist Kitty: Cats Go a Stray

Heist Kitty: Cats Go a Stray is a cat simulator game that can be played both online and locally. The game allows players to unleash their inner cat and become the Ultimate Cat Nuisance, wreaking havoc in the city. Players can choose to play solo or team up with friends and join forces with either the Meowfia or the Purrlice. The game features expected cat behaviors such as climbing virtually any surface, as well as more unusual cat abilities like driving cars and shooting across the open world through cat cannons.

Game Rant recently interviewed Heist Kitty developers Carmen and Brian Rivers from LetMeowt Games LLC and Amber Silcock, Producer at Excalibur Games, about the game's unique cat customizer creator. The developers discussed the game's chaos and harmony systems, its influences and inspirations like The Legend of Zelda, and more. Carmen and Brian revealed that Heist Kitty is their third game in the cat game series, with Cat Save Halloween being the first. They drew inspiration from their children, who provided them with ideas for the game's features. The game was designed to appeal to both kids and adults, with the aim of creating a family-friendly game. The developers enjoy working together as a family and appreciate the positive feedback they receive from players.

Carmen and Brian drew inspiration from their two cats when developing Heist Kitty, although they are open to incorporating other animals in the future. French Bulldogs even make an appearance as potential foes in the game, but with a surprising twist.

Players have the option to join either the Meowfia or the Purrlice, each with their own unique objectives and gameplay experiences. The Meowfia prioritizes family and personal freedom, while the Purrlice are dedicated to protecting feline rights with the use of high-tech gadgets. By choosing one side over the other, players are treated to a different perspective on the overarching storyline.

Joining the Purrlice means navigating obstacles at the Police Academy and mastering skills like drone flying and car driving, while the Meowfia offers a more nightlife-oriented experience with bank robberies and other illicit activities. Despite their differing approaches, both teams ultimately oppose those who seek to subjugate cats, including animal control and other antagonistic forces.

Brian and Carmen aimed to create replayability in the game, offering players a different side of the story with each playthrough. Heist Kitty has two teams, Meowfia and Purrlice, but Brian shares that most players have chosen Meowfia. However, replaying as Purrlice will also offer a rewarding experience. When asked how cat heists work compared to other crime games like GTA, Brian acknowledges the influence of GTA but highlights the game's fun, humorous, and kid-friendly nature. The game is filled with cat puns and cultural references, making it a unique and entertaining experience for those who enjoy puns. The stories and quest lines are designed to reward the characters and set up jokes for later payoffs. Overall, the team's goal is to make the game as fun as possible.

The game features obstacle courses that are influenced by popular games like Minecraft, Roblox, and Fortnite. The gameplay is dynamic and cartoony, and players can interact more with the world. In the game, players can turn on and off lights, mess with things, and knock them down as a cat. The storyline takes players on a journey where they have to break in, retrieve things, and fight bad guys. The game also features dungeon levels with different bosses and mobs of varying difficulty levels. Players can gain health or mana to charge up their weapons and upgrade them. The game's story starts with players working for Mayor Mittens, who sends them on a mission to find out more about a mysterious new company in town called Cetco Toys. The game then snowballs into insanity from there.

Brian and Carmen discussed different ways for players to become the ultimate cat nuisance in addition to heists. They introduced the chaos and harmony systems, which reward players for different kinds of play styles. The chaos system allows players to earn points by knocking over groceries, playing in the arcade, or causing mayhem in the mall. On the other hand, the harmony system rewards players who play well with others and allows them to buy positive cat hats or cats.

The game also features interactable objects that allow for crazy chaos, such as turning water on and off and flushing toilets. However, players cannot open doors, which creates an interesting barrier. The game also offers side quests and Easter eggs for players to explore and discover. Lastly, the developers acknowledged that players may try to break out of maps, so they included a button that returns them to the start if they get launched off the map.

Brian shared that there are some interesting discoveries in Heist Kitty that they left in the game. One of their favorite bugs is when players drive their car in the wrong place or get stuck, they added a jump feature for the car that can make it fly across the map if spammed. Another discovery is that players can control humans by jumping on them and grabbing on, which led to using them as boats to cross the map. They even added swimming animations for the humans to make it work in the game, resulting in human life rafts. In addition to the various traversal mechanics like climbing, cannons, driving, and RC cars, players can also control a drone remotely and even some enemies can be controlled. Grappling hooks are not currently implemented but are not off the table.

One fun technique in the game is using cats as shields or running them to move faster than your enemies. The cars are also a blast to drive around with a radio that allows you to change channels and feel like you're really cruising as a cat. You can even pile other cats on top of the car and drive with your party down the road. The game features a force beam that allows you to pick up and carry items across the map, and some items are big enough for you to stand on, creating opportunities for unique traversal methods. As for lives, players start with three hearts and can pick up nine in total throughout the game. If a cat dies, they restart at the beginning of the level as a little angel ghost cat. The game also features six default cats with different elemental alignments, and each cat has their own specialty item to pick up in each dungeon.

Midnight has been equipped with a sniper rifle while Tiger has the ability to transform into a giant cat with a fun side effect bug. If Tiger is close enough to someone else, they also turn into a giant cat, including NPCs. We had a blast creating unique items and weapons for each of the cats.

As Carmen said, some of our bugs become our best features.

When it comes to playing as a cat causing 'catastrophe', cat lovers will enjoy interacting with the world and using the cat's purring and growling abilities. Our emotes and animations, such as the cat cleaning itself and taking a nap, really trigger people's enjoyment for the first part of the game. Some cat lovers also enjoy the bad side of being a cat and causing chaos, angering people, and getting chased around. It all depends on the player's preference.

Players can choose to be either a good or bad cat. Additionally, the cat creator is a feature that people are going to love because it allows them to create a cat that looks exactly how they want it to look. The cat will then take on one of the elements that the other standardized cats have at random once the first weapon has been unlocked.

Brian mentioned that the cat creator offers a lot of possibilities, including creating adorable abominations. When asked about the co-op multiplayer elements in Heist Kitty, Carmen explained that playing solo is more suitable for those interested in the game's story, whereas multiplayer mode is more about causing chaos and having fun. In multiplayer, players can depend on each other's powers, like Angel, who is the healer. Story progression is designed to work at an individual pace, and players can earn harmony points by supporting others who are trying to catch up. Harmony points can be redeemed at a special shop for hats that offer benefits, such as increased armor or speed.

We aimed to incorporate various Easter eggs in the game, including puns and cultural references that players can discover. We even included characters from our previous games, such as Meowfoy, who can be found in an Easter egg point in the game. Our objective was to reward players for exploring every corner of the game, and we will continue to add more Easter eggs in the future. We also monitor Twitch streams to see where players are breaking the game and will patch in rewards accordingly. For example, if a player manages to hit a chicken with a cannon, they will receive a Steam achievement. We strive to make the game entertaining and rewarding for all players.

We wanted to offer players more than just extra mana or health in our dungeons. It could be an item or even an extra bear, something that adds a little surprise and excitement. And who doesn't love a good joke, right? When it comes to Heist Kitty, what makes it unique is its open-world gameplay. Unlike Stray, which is more of a point-and-click experience, Heist Kitty allows for exploration and discovery, giving players the freedom to choose their own path. While we drew inspiration from games like Legend of Zelda and Goat Simulator, Heist Kitty is its own entity. Visually stunning and engaging, Stray is a great game, but it's a single-player experience that follows a linear storyline. In contrast, Heist Kitty gives players the opportunity to break away from the rules and create their own experiences. We've created a vast world for them to explore and enjoy on their own terms.

Silcock revealed some of the post-launch milestones for Heist Kitty, including plans to add more content such as racetracks and taking suggestions from their community. They are also considering cross-play support for consoles but have not made a decision yet. The core community has been growing since the alpha test launch this week, and they are taking comments, feedback, and suggestions from players to potentially implement after post-launch. Brian mentioned that the entire cat game series exists in the same universe and timeline, and the end of Heist Kitty sets up the introduction to the next game in the series. They want to build a community with their players and get their feedback on what they want to see in future games. The game is adaptable, and they have designs for procedural world generation for chaotic elements. They are looking forward to the racing theme, inspired by Fast and Furious, and have plans for a character named Dom Tortie.

Brian and Carmen are excited to see players enjoy the cat creator and racing maps in Heist Kitty. They also love it when players are surprised and delighted by unexpected events in the game. They strive to create this feeling in every aspect of the game. Additionally, they pay attention to which features players enjoy the most and build on those. Inspired by Zelda, Heist Kitty includes a heart and mana meter in the UI, creating a magical experience.

Zelda has always excelled at leveraging the player's progress as an asset or even a hindrance to moving forward. This is exemplified by items like the force beam and fishing poles, which require collection and mastery to advance and create new experiences as the game unfolds. The game's sense of wonder, creativity, and challenging mobs and bosses are truly appreciated. As a fan who grew up with the first Zelda game on console, there is definitely an influence from the original console games, including platforming elements that can be credited to Mario. The game's fantasy setting is a major influence and is driven by the developers' love of creating a sense of wonder. Family is also a significant influence, as the developers enjoy playing games together and want others to have the same enjoyable experience.